Crimea Approves a Secession Vote as Tensions Rise - NYTimes.com
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/07/world/europe/ukraine-sanctions.html?emc=edit_th_20140307&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=6761714
SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — The volatile confrontation over the future of Ukraine took another tense turn on Thursday as Russian allies in Crimea sought annexation by Moscow and the United States imposed its first sanctions on Russian officials involved in the military occupation of the strategic peninsula.
While diplomats raced from meeting to meeting in an effort to end the standoff, European leaders signaled they might join American sanctions and Moscow threatened countermeasures as an already jittery situation was made edgier by the opening of new Russian military drills.